The following article originally appeared in the October 1995 issue of Kaleidoscope, the monthly CUL staff newsletter.

As the construction project approval process snakes its way through various university offices and committees, new books and journals arrive to fill the dwindling supply of available shelves. Six of Cornell's libraries are out of space. This month the new university administration will review the latest version of the Library's plans for the off-site facility. The time has come to determine how much this building will actually cost and, harder still, to give it a good name.

Giving the building a name is an important step forward. Naming a building expresses confidence in the future--confidence that someday the presentations and discussions, questions and answers, will finally be over and construction will begin. Ideally, the chosen name should illustrate the purpose of the building and help set the tone of the place. The Library has chosen the Harvard Depository design because it frees up space on central campus and provides an environment designed for the long-term storage of paper and film; so the name should reflect pride in that choice. A name that sounds exciting and active, and at the same time conveys efficiency and practicality, will evoke a positive response from users, or so we hope. Good names are catchy and memorable, never frivolous or silly.

But finding a name that sparkles with enthusiasm and simultaneously sounds efficient and technologically advanced is not easy. No wonder that no other library has found something imaginative to call its high-density storage facility. Consider:

Off-site Facility? What does this MEAN?

Warehouse? Too industrial. Too passive.

Depository? Too sinister. Brings back memories of the Kennedy assassination or night bank deposit vaults.

Annex II? Son of Annex? Daughter of Annex? Annex Major? Annex Minor? Cousin of Annex? Morgue? Storehouse? Depot? Atelier? Palm Road Library? Libmart?

While the search for a name continues, the final cost estimates for construction and operations are being readied for meetings in October. Estimating construction costs is proving to be easier, but a lot less fun, than listing names.

Last April and May, the university administration reviewed four plans for the new off-site facility and the current Annex, developed during the winter by members of the library and university planning staff and the Syracuse architectural firm QPK. The presentations to the President and Provost in the spring focused on the impact of the conclusions of the Strategic Plan for Library Space Needs to 2010, endorsed by the Trustees in early 1991, and the results of the Library's collection measurement project in 1994, on the need for library collection space. The urgency of freeing up space, and the directive from the Trustees that no additional library space will be added on central campus after the turn of the century, were highlighted.

As Provost Nesheim prepared to leave office in June, he confirmed that the university had set a cap of $4,750,000 for the project. This announcement set off another round of revising estimates and checking numbers to determine what could and could not be accomplished with this amount of money.

During the summer months, the project planners worked with Reese Dill, a warehouse consultant who was instrumental in the development of the 'Harvard' model of a high-density warehouse. He also consulted on a number of recent projects for other research libraries. The primary reason for hiring Dill was to check and recheck the space estimates and capacities developed by the architects and the project staff at Cornell.

His final report was released in September. In it he confirms that most of the Cornell capacity data is accurate and he provides an extensive discussion of the shelving system and space saving techniques. Also of particular interest in his report is an analysis of the impact of changing timing for the ILR and Mann building projects on the need for library space before the year 2000.

What does 4.7 million dollars buy? It covers the costs of construction, furnishings, equipment, and shelving for a Harvard style module which will house 1.4 volume equivalents. It will buy some modest renovation of the staff areas of the Annex, and a new loading dock and parking lot. Sadly, this figure is not large enough to replace the Annex with better designed, more efficient, or preservationally sound space, nor to renovate it extensively. The Library is expected to support the ongoing operations at the facility without an increase in its annual budget allocation.

Another series of presentations to the university administration took place in September and more are planned for this month. The goal is to secure approval for the funding to hire an architect to begin schematic design. If all goes like clockwork, and the circumstances are just right (both highly unlikely), the groundbreaking could be a year from now with completion in the autumn of 1997, just as most of the libraries on campus reach or exceed their maximum shelving capacities.

While the process moves slowly toward its conclusion, library staff will not be idle. The ongoing Annex barcoding project will continue under the watchful eyes of the staff in Olin/Kroch/Uris Access Services. As of July 1995, they had barcoded more than 1 million items, and plan to continue to barcode throughout the year. More record conversion is needed, provided money is available. Also this year, the process to identify and select the materials to be transferred to the new facility must begin in earnest. One of the more ambitious goals of the project is to move more than a million volumes from central campus during the first 18 months of operation.

Meanwhile, the search for a good name continues. Athenaeum? Book and Box Mall? Subsidiary?

Catherine Murray-Rust is Associate University Librarian.